Devine after career highlight in Belle Of The Burdekin

By Glenn Davis

Thangool trainer Jason Devine will make his first trip to Townsville on Saturday and is hopeful of claiming his biggest win of his career with Imagine That in the Belle Of The Burdekin.

Devine works in the coal mines and trains as a hobby with only four horses in work.

He admits he’s having more fun as a trainer than his days as a jockey.

He also worked for leading Sydney trainer John Hawkes.

“I used to ride Hawkes' champion Lonhro in all his trackwork but I’m having a lot more fun training,” Devine said.

“No one realises how much work goes into training horses until they do it themselves.

“It’s especially more rewarding and more fun now that my daughter Jaimee-Lee is an apprentice and she rides most of our horses, so we get a big thrill whenever we get a winner together.”

Jaimee-Lee can’t ride Imagine That on Saturday despite having won four times on the seven-year-old mare.

“Jaimee-Lee is still an apprentice, but she hasn’t got her provincial license yet to I’ve booked Ashley Butler to ride Imagine That,” Devine said.

Devine rode for nine years as a jockey but never had any great success other than winning the Carlton Cup at Rockhampton.

“The Carlton Cup was the big two-year-old race in Rocky at the time but unfortunately weight was my worst enemy,” he said.

Imagine That has been in a purple patch of form, winning 10 times since joining Devine’s stables in late 2022.

“She’s been my best horse by far and it’ll be my biggest win if she can take out the Belle Of The Burdekin,” he said.

“It means a lot to me and my family whenever we win a race anywhere.”

Devine only confirmed starting Imagine That after Thursday’s barrier draw.

“I waited until after the barriers came out as I wasn’t going to start her if she drew bad,” he said.

“It’s a 10-hour trip from Thangool to Townsville so I didn’t want to waste my time going up early if she drew bad.”

Imagine That, who drew barrier two, has won her past two starts on her home track at Thangool, her latest in a 1200 metre Open Handicap on July 19.

“She’s racing well and is getting better as she gets older,” Devine said.

“Just two starts ago she won by five lengths at Thangool then I dropped her back to 1200 metres and she won again.

“She’s got a bit of weight with 60kgs, but she’ll be hard to beat.”